Mom’s Intuition Led her to Choose a Cesarean

There was a mom, Michele on the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group who was posting that her OB was doing the “Big Baby Scare” and wanted some input. I shared my Big Baby Bull link and said, educate yourself and follow your instincts.

She posted her birth story and this was my reply.

This is a GREAT example of the power of a mother’s intuition. At first I was sad that you chose to get a cesarean. But as I read your story I could see that you were right in your choice (not because of his size, but because of the meconium AND your internal confirmation that you made the right choice). I also am glad that you didn’t feel pressured into the cesarean by your care providers, that it was truly your choice.

I love that your Hypnobabies tools were so helpful before and during the cesarean. That is great. I would love to add your birth story to the Hypnobabies Blog. It is a great example of the power of a mother’s intuition!

Michele said,

Thanks Sheridan. I too was totally surprised at my own decision to have surgery rather then go thru the natural process of birth. I’m a real naturalist about things and get a little nuts when I feel I can’t work with the natural order of things. It was weird. No matter how much I wanted to make the decision to be induced it never felt right to me in the hour and a half I was making the decision. At the time I couldn’t have told you why, it just was what it was.

Anyway, of course you can put it up on the Hypnobabies blog. I think people should know that the tools that they study will be there for them even if things don’t go as planned.

-Michele

Here is her birth story…

Miles Avery came in to the world on Monday July 6, 2009 at 9:57pm weighing 9lbs 4oz. and measured at 22 inches long! Big baby! But a real cutie!

Let me start out by saying that I studied Hypnobabies for 3 months prior to birth and fully prepared myself to have a natural childbirth. I believe if I ever have another child I will again prepare myself with Hypnobabies for a natural childbirth because Hypnobabies gave me the tools to deal with the process of having a c-section and made for a relatively calm birth amongst the craziness of the operating room. Doing Hypnobabies every night also made for a relaxing pregnancy and I believe had something to do with how incredibly calm my baby is.

On Monday July 6th I went to the hospital for a third fetal movement test. Since he was measuring big from the week before the Dr’s wondered if I had developed Gestational Diabetes so while there the nurse called to get the results of the GD test the week before. It turned out that I had developed it. From that point on I was told that the baby was coming out that day either by induction or by c-section. I was surprised that they actually were giving me the choice. Now I had not read up on c-section or inductions so I wasn’t prepared to make the decision. The only knowledge I had of either of the 2 choices was the info in the HB home study book as well as some support from people on the HB message bored when I asked which would be better. I thank everyone for their responses!

When my husband got the hospital, he and I debated for over an hour and half which method would be the better option. We asked the OB at the hospital and our OB what they both thought. I called my parents and a friend of mine who had recently had a c-section to ask her about the recovery process. After going back and forth between the 2 we decided that the c-section was the way to go. I do have to say that the OB at the hospital and my OB never pressured me either way. In fact at one point the OB who performed the procedure actually said to me, “Let’s just start with the induction.” Cause I was taking so long to decide! I guess she figured I was uncomfortable with getting a c-section. They both were supportive of either option as long as I was open to having the baby that day.

Once we decided and I got admitted, it was time for pre-op. The staff there and the OB let me have close to an hour to prepare myself by letting me get into my own self-hypnosis mode. Like I said I hadn’t prepared for a CS so I was a little unsure of how to use the method for that so I started out with the Deepening CD to make sure I was as relaxed as I could be. After that I put myself in hypnosis and turned on my center switch just in time to wheeled into the operating room. I turned myself off when getting the spinal block and back to center when I had the lie down and stayed there for a few moments while answering questions from the anesthesiologist. Feeling the spinal take effect was the worst part for me. There was a moment where I felt like couldn’t breathe. And the Dr had the nurses tilt the table a little bit to help me out which did help. Then came some nausea, which the anesthesiologist gave me some Zofran for. Then my head started to hurt and here is where HB really helped me out. I began using the “Peace” cue while the pain in my head came and went. The “Peace” cue kept me calm during a moment that I wanted to really panic.

After my head stopped hurting and the Dr. made sure that I could not feel anything. My husband was allowed in and I promptly turned myself off while husband rubbed my head and gave me the relax and release cues through the entire operation. I also was saying to myself the entire time, “Deeper and Deeper with ever exhalation”. I was completely relaxed and very aware of what people were saying and doing after I turned myself off. I never felt any pain during the surgery partly because of the drugs, but also because I was so relaxed. I remember the Dr and nurses telling me and commenting to my husband how calm I was and how good I was doing. I know that they are probably supposed to say that, but they all sounded genuinely impressed at how well I was handling everything.

Miles came out already crying and covered in meconium. This told me that I had made the right decision. He was just ready to come out. I remember the nurses all commenting on how big he was and that I had delivered the biggest baby of the day! LOL! I was able to see him after a few minutes of him getting weighed and some blood tests taken because of the GD. Turns out his sugar was not elevated at all. I must have just recently started to develop GD right at the end.

Miles is just a beautiful baby boy. So far in his week and a half old life I have only had one night where he was fussy, but most of the time he is so calm and able to settle right down when he does get fussy that I am calling him my Zen Baby!

I truly do not think I would have been able to be so calm through the operation had I not studied with Hypnobabies. It truly gave me the knowledge and the tools to make my decision and to remain calm and relaxed throughout the c-section.